Upright, disposable beverage containers prefilled with juice or other beverage, commonly referred to as juice boxes, are popular consumer items especially among young children and youth. These containers are usually rectangular shaped boxlike containers with a straw wrapped in plastic attached to the side of the container. The straw is removed and used to pierce a sealed aperture on the top surface of the container. The straw is then inserted in to the aperture and the user uses the straw to drink the beverage in the container. These juice boxes provide a portable and lightweight drinking container for a beverage.
One of the most important problems with these juice boxes is the disposable nature of the beverage containers. These containers are designed for single use only. Once opened, they cannot be stored in a manner that will ensure no spillage. Therefore, a user has to consume all of the contents of the juice box once it is opened. The user cannot save any juice for another time. In addition, the containers themselves cannot be reused and need to be disposed of, negatively impacting the environment.
Another problem with these containers is the straw. The straw is wrapped in a plastic wrapper and attached to the container with a small dab of glue. The straw can easily dislodge and get lost. The attached straw has a sharp tip at one end to pierce the sealed aperture, if the attached straw is lost a regular straw would not be an effective replacement to pierce the sealed aperture, in addition, it can be difficult to pierce the sealed aperture even with the attached straw. These juice boxes are targeted towards young children who lack the strength and manual dexterity to pierce the sealed aperture using the attached straw. Also, the construction of the juice box is not sturdy enough to ensure that the force used to pierce the aperture will not cause the box to be squeezed or to fall, causing spillage.
In general, juice boxes are prone to spillage and mishandling due to their lightweight construction, especially since the juice boxes are primarily targeted towards children who may not have the skill to handle the lightweight containers. The juice boxes do not have a handle or other carrying mechanism to support the juice boxes once they are opened.
Therefore, there is a need for a reusable beverage container which includes a closure to allow for later use, a handle to hold the juice box while drinking and to support the container in an upright or prone position, and an integrated straw. In addition, there is a need for a beverage container made of a stronger and more resistant construction to reduce spillage, especially when handled by children.